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Ve dnech 6. – 7. května 2019 proběhl v Římě společný workshop UNIDROIT a UNCITRAL k digitální problematice. V rámci workshopu se setkali experti především z oblasti technologie distribuovaných záznamů (DLT), smart contracts a umělé inteligence. Cílem workshopu bylo identifikování témat, které by mohla být náplní společné práce těchto organizací.

Workshop reagoval na situaci, kdy ČR navrhla pro budoucí pracovní program UNIDROIT a UNCITRAL oblast e-commerce s využitím chytrých technologií a umělé inteligence. Vzhledem k tomu, že UNCITRAL a UNIDROIT tyto návrhy přijaly a vydaly svým příslušným orgánům mandáty v obdobných oblastech, obě organizace souhlasily s průzkumem možnosti vzájemné společné práce.

V rámci workshopu proběhla také číše vína na zastupitelském úřadě ČR v Římě, která dále zviditelnila a podpořila ČR v rámci obou mezinárodních organizací. Vedle úvodního slova velvyslankyně ČR v Itálii Hany Hubáčkové hosty recepce pozdravili Alžběta Krausová, vedoucí Centra pro výzkum inovací a kyberpráva Ústavu státu a práva Akademie věd ČR a Alex Ivančo, vedoucí oddělení mezinárodního práva z Ministerstva průmyslu a obchodu ČR.

Níže naleznete výňatek z agendy nadcházejícího zasedání Řídící rady UNIDROIT.

 

 „4. Artificial Intelligence/Smart Contracts/DLT: Joint work with UNCITRAL

72. In 2015, the UNIDROIT Secretariat received a proposal from the Ministry of Justice of Hungary to take into consideration the development of model laws in the domain of business informatics, in relation to platform services, software services, hardware services, database handling, and cloud computing. In November 2016, the Ministry of Industry and Trade of the Czech Republic sent the UNIDROIT Secretariat a proposal to include two main topics in the Work Programme: distributed ledger (or block chain) technology and inheritance of digital properties (see UNIDROIT 2017 – C.D. (95) 5, Annex II). This proposal was submitted to the attention of the General Assembly at its 75th session (Rome, 1 December 2016), and later to the Governing Council at its 96th session (Rome, 10-12 May 2016), during which the Governing Council concluded that the Secretariat should continue to follow developments in this regard (see UNIDROIT 2017 – C.D. (95) 15, para. 58). Upon receipt of the Secretariat’s Note Verbale of 18 June 2018 requesting proposals for the 2020-2022 Work Programme, the Czech Republic submitted a second proposal to UNIDROIT, reiterating prior proposals and expressing the need to assess what would be a fair distribution of rights and obligations in contracts for provision of intelligent products and services and to draft model rules for this specific type of a contract. Similarly, the Czech Republic presented a proposal to the UNCITRAL Secretariat requesting that UNCITRAL closely monitors developments relating to legal aspects of smart contracts and artificial intelligence and report back to the Commission on areas that might warrant uniform legal treatment, with a view to undertaking work in those fields if and when appropriate. Following proposal, at its 51st session (New York, 25 June-13 July 2018), the Commission decided that “[t]he Secretariat should compile information on legal issues related to the digital economy, including by organizing, within existing resources and in cooperation with other organizations, symposiums, colloquiums and other expert meetings, and to report that information for its consideration at a future session.”9

 

73. In line with the joint proposal of the Czech Republic and having received a similar mandate from their governing bodies, UNIDROIT and UNCITRAL have agreed to explore the possibility of future joint work in this area. In order to identify the specific topics that could be, if feasible, the scope of the work, a joint, by-invitation only workshop is to be convened at UNIDROIT’s seat (Rome, 6-7 May 2019). The workshop will aim to gather leading experts, particularly in the fields of distributed ledger technology (DLT), smart contracts and areas of artificial Intelligence possibly linked with private law. For further information, the draft agenda for that workshop can be found in Annex 8 to this document.10 The purpose of the workshop is not to create yet another forum for discussion on these topics or to go into detailed expert analysis of specific items, but rather – and exclusively – to identify the most suitable topic(s) for future work by both Organisations. The workshop features a final panel addressing conclusions, which should form the basis for discussion at the Governing Council’s 98th session (Rome, 8-10 May 2019) and, at a later stage, at the General Assembly for final approval of a more defined and specific proposal to be included in the 2020-2022 Work Programme. The importance of the topic and its rapid development would appear to favour classifying the project as a high priority one. However, given the lack of determination of its scope, the Secretariat would consider it prudent to wait until the Governing Council’s 99th session in May 2020 to define the adequate level of priority.

 

74. Following a further update by the Secretariat, the Governing Council would be asked to consider providing a general statement of support for the inclusion of this topic in the 2020-2022 Work Programme, tentatively and for the time being with a medium priority level, and to instruct the Secretariat to consult with UNCITRAL and with experts in order to further define the proposal’s scope. The Secretariat would then update the Governing Council regarding the proposal’s progress at its next session in May 2020.“